This was the view through my windshield this afternoon. No nice fluffly snow like they had in Corvallis but rather 24°F and raining. It had started to rain last night but by this morning, it looked like we just had a little rain. I went ahead and rode in and maybe went a little slower than usual but not by much. This afternoon, it started to rain and it was still below freezing (how does that work?) I thought that it may be a good idea to simply head home before the evening rush hour traffic. I think I was in 3rd gear all the way and pulled off the road a couple of times to let other traffic go by. It was pretty slick. The whole bike (except for the engine and exhaust) and sidecar had a nice layer of ice built up on it.
Fortunately, most of the other traffic recognized the driving hazard and speeds were reasonable. The only speed demons were the usual suspects, lifted trucks and Subarus. There was one car sitting on top of a snow bank along side of the road and I couldn't figure out how it got there. No signs of sliding, no wheel tracks and all four wheels weren't touching the ground. Almost as if it was put there by a crane. But at least it was right side up and no one was in it. I didn't stop to take a picture since there was traffic behind me.
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Boy, those photos are enough to make anyone shudder who has had to live with ice storms. Freezing rain makes me hold my breath- nothing good comes of it! Glad you managed to get around safely.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I don't need to see through my windshield while going down the road. And the studded tires seem to help but it was still pretty slippery. Without studs on my boots you could skate across the parking lot. Pretty grim...
DeleteSo we have snow and you have the rain. Is something wrong with this picture? :)
ReplyDeleteSomething really wrong. There's this whole climate change thing that some are trying to ignore but we won't get into that here. Is it snowing in Seattle?
DeleteNo snow in Seattle. Just sunny and cold! I had to dig up my sunglasses today.
DeleteFreezing rain is my nemesis, it scares me. I am glad you did get home without ending up like the car did.
ReplyDeleteI think it's all about speed. Some of those with 4WD and AWD seem to believe that they are invincible rather than getting stuck 25m further down the road. So far, All of the stuck and flipped vehicles I've seen are those. I have 1WD and all of the traction of an old RWD car without limited slip so I take my time.
DeleteWow, did your gear have quite a layer of ice on it too by the time you got home?
ReplyDeleteI hate freezing rain. I'd rather have the fluffy snow. You should have seen Brad using the leaf blower to clean the Subaru off this morning. The snow was that light it just blew right off.
Light and fluffy is much nicer. There was a layer of ice on the arms and helmet. The visor managed to stay clear but had to be squeegeed off quite often.
DeleteI hear that leaf blowers do a pretty good job with the light snow.
I hate freezing rains, the controls can sometimes "stick", for instance, the throttle cable stuck in high and your engine is revving like crazy but you're stopped.....not fun.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, it's good you dont look through your windshield during times like that.
dom
I've taken to carrying a small tarp to cover the front half of the bike when it's raining or wet snow. This year, no problem so far. Last year, one of the enricheners froze up. And, I think the lowers on the fairing help while underway. The upper ends of the cables are pretty well protected.
DeleteMy Bonneville has carb warmers, factory standard issue for places like Up North. In cold weather (below 60) it takes half a mile to run smoothly without the choke which is as wintery as I want to get. So far climate change has done the Keys proud, until of course we all drown. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteMy carbs must be jetted kind of rich. After about 30 sec with the enricheners on usually sufficient even when below zero. At 60, I don't even use them at all.
DeleteI don't know what the models are predicting for ocean level rise but most people (government, business, financial sectors, etc.) are ignoring it all anyway. Maybe it'll go away if we ignore it...